The Bristol Blog features news and information about Bristol, Connecticut.

October 18, 2013

Albert: Holding down taxes is critical

Republican City Council hopeful Jim Albert just issued this:

This year’s local election in
Bristol is about the size of government and taxes. My opponents have openly and repeatedly said
the best way to improve our quality of life, student performance, and economy
is to grow government and raise taxes.
Chris Wilson, Democratic Candidate for Mayor stated at a debate this
week how people in Bristol should NOT feel they are overtaxed because “we have
the 50th lowest mill rate in the state.” As Chairman of the Board of Education, Chris wants
to give more money to the Board of Education for additional extracurricular
programs. Ellen Zoppo-Sassu, my opponent
for City Council, echoed these sentiments at a Rotary Club breakfast and a
debate of Council Candidates by saying she wants to see more students get into
Harvard, Princeton and Yale and that she is a “Progressive, Liberal, New Deal
Democrat” who believes we need bigger government and more spending to ensure a
good quality of life for our citizens.
She favors raising taxes, as soon as possible, to add more after school
programs, ball fields and other amenities.

Having worked for the government for 20 years as an Air Force
Officer, including two years writing speeches and legislation for the White
House and Secretary of Defense, I agree that government can facilitate the
growth of our economy and quality of life.
But more government is not the answer to all our problems. Nor is more spending without accountability
going to meet our needs. Simply put, we
can’t afford more taxes at this time and I do not agree we should raise them
until we seriously review what we are currently spending and what processes we
use to plan and prioritize our spending and oversee the performance and
accountability of our City government and Board of Education departments and
managers.

Unfortunately, Bristol is not living
in a bubble. We are weighed down by
Connecticut’s financial mismanagement and political paralysis, which has made
us the highest taxed state in the nation, the worst business environment, the
worst environment for retirees, the worst estate taxes in the country, and the
third highest debt per citizen in the U.S. – twice that of California. Until things get better economically and
politically, we need to hold the line on spending, growing government and
taxes. This doesn’t mean cutting our
current budgets. It means we need to aggressively
find waste and inefficiency by reviewing what we spend money on and review the
processes we use to set priorities and oversee City government performance and
accountability. I believe we will find
enough waste in our current budgets to fund many new priorities. I also believe we need better oversight of
City spending and am very concerned that Bristol has not had a full financial
audit of its books in decades. It is
time to clean and repair our “house” before we start adding more rooms. Raising taxes at this time will only serve to
drive more people out of Bristol and keep businesses from moving in or growing.

What should Steve do if the Press closes?

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With two polls completed now, we know that I should try to get a job as an ambassador and that most Bristol residents will get their news from the bar gossip at the American Legion hall if the Press closes.